Adam Scott would win the British Open. He had broken his major duck at the Masters, he had unfinished business with this championship and he was playing the last round with Tiger Woods; it would be the passing of the baton.

But Scott, after leading briefly on the back nine, suffered from acute deja vu, making four successive bogeys to reprise the four he infamously finished with at Royal Lytham and St Annes last year. Scott did not win; he did not break par.

If not Scott, it would be Woods. It had been five long and lorn years since the last of his 14 majors, but his life was back in order, he was again the No.1 player in the world and he sat just two off the lead. But as he removed his cap to doff it to the crowd on the 18th, it was hard not to think that his game and his hairline were receding. Woods did not win; he did not break par.

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If not Scott or Woods, then surely it would be Lee Westwood. He was British; that was reason enough. Already this day, compatriots had won the Tour de France and the Lord's Test by thumping margins. He had not won a major; it was time. Westwood carried a two-shot lead into the last round, which would momentarily become three. But by just after the turn, it would all be gone, for good. Westwood did not win; he did not break par.

In the end, moral, sentimental and patriotic forces were overmatched by the golfing force of Phil Mickelson. The American left-hander is a player of account, with four previous majors to his name, including three Masters titles, but hidden these many years in the long shadows of Woods. Quirkily, he also has finished second six times at the US Open, including this year, which adds the dimension of poetic justice to this victory.

Opportunity lost: Lee Westwood of England. Photo: AP

Mickelson was not an obvious candidate this week. On his own cheerful admission, links golf had confounded him. He had not won a tournament in Europe since 1993 until last week's Scottish Open, and had begun to doubt he ever would adapt his game to the peculiarities and rigours of the British Open. As recently as Friday, he had four-putted one of Muirfield's par threes. On Sunday morning, he was still in the ruck, five shots back.

But it is well established that championship golf really starts on the 10th hole on day four. As others surged and faltered, Mickelson seized the tournament with a finishing burst of four birdies in the last six holes, including a flourish on the 18th when he banked his second shot off the upslope fortifying a bunker at the back of the green and rolled home the putt.

It turned a contest into a romp with a three-shot margin over runner-up Henrik Stenson. His 66 was the lowest round of the tournament. It was, said Mickelson, simply the round of his life, and the most fulfilling moment of his career.

On top: Phil Mickelson. Photo: AFP

Mickelson won; he was the the only player for the week to break par. In that sense, it can be said that in strict order, he beat the course, then the field. The wind ruffled everybody and thing. Muirfield's pride is that no duffer has won here; its champions are all hall of famers.

Neither Woods nor Scott would subdue it. Scott played his second shot of the round with one knee on the ground while hitting from a fairway bunker, and after four holes, he was five shots adrift of Westwood. Eventually, he found his feet, making four birdies in five holes with crisp shotmaking around the turn. At the 11th, he led the tournament.

His Waterloo began almost as an Austerlitz, a triumph. From an ugly position in the rough at the par-three 13th, he overflew two bunkers and stopped the ball on the green, a piece of artistry. But his par-saver grazed the cup. An inexplicably awry read of a putt followed at the next hole, then another three-putt, then a misadventure in a bunker.

For Scott, it was a less stark collapse than last year's, because it was part of a general subsidence in which nearly all the leaders lost shots on the back nine while Mickelson was making them. ''You have to be resilient in this game,'' Mickelson would later say, ''because losing is such a big part of it.''

Scott knows it, better than most. ''I let a great chance slip during the middle of the round, and that's disappointing,'' he said. ''[But] I'm happy I put myself in with a chance. My game is in great shape; that's the good thing to take from it.''

In trying to make their accommodation with Muirfield, most players used their drivers sparingly. Mickelson did not even carry one in his bag. So it was that at the climax of the tournament, playing the uphill, upwind par-five 17th, he reached the green with two three-woods. ''Those were two of the best three-woods I've ever hit,'' Mickelson would say, ''the two best shots I hit this week.''

They led to a birdie, and suddenly a two-shot lead. ''As I was walking up to the green, that was when I realised that this is very much my championship, in my control,'' he said. ''I was getting a little emotional. I had to slow down my walk and try to regain composure.''

He need not have worried. On formidable Muirfield, all romantic appeals to some ethereal higher golfing authority had long since failed; the only deserving winner was the man who played best on the back nine on the last day.

SNAPSHOT OF THE FOURTH ROUND OF THE BRITISH OPEN AT MUIRFIELD

SCORE OF THE DAY: Phil Mickelson delivered a true champion’s performance with his five-under-par 66 winning round. On a course that got increasingly tougher throughout the week, no-one had gone so low since Zach Johnson in round one.

STAT OF THE DAY: Four. For the second straight year, the amount of consecutive bogeys Adam Scott made on the back nine to effectively surrender the title.

KEY MOMENT: There were plenty. The slip-ups of Scott and Lee Westwood were pivotal but Mickelson’s excellent birdie putt on the 13th was massive. It gave him the confidence and momentum needed to go on with the job.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I shot the round of my life." - Mickelson has played many great rounds in his career, but he puts his Sunday effort at Muirfield at the top of the pile.

SUMMARY: As Muirfield swallowed up the hopes of Westwood, Scott and Tiger Woods, Mickelson again showed his class to win his fifth major title. Only the US Open title eludes him now and he badly wants to complete a career grand slam to cement his status as a true golf legend.

It has always amazed me how Phil is able to "fly beneath the radar" in the media that often does not give him the recognition he deserves. He is now a great golfer who is worthy to stand amongst the greats of today and yesterday. But I think the most important thing about Mickelson is that he is a wonderful person who is now reaping the rewards because of this. Good luck to him.

Commenter

Andrew Housden

Location

Kangaroo Valley

Date and time

July 22, 2013, 9:21AM

I loved Phil's humility in claiming he felt he may not have had the shots before now to win The Open. In 2004, he was there at the death at Troon alongside Ernie, when Todd Hamilton held them both out. So Phil has more than simply knocked on the door here. Refreshing to not hear a vibe of overdue entitlement from the man when he finally claimed it nine years later.

If he ever manages to win the US Open, it will be more to him to finally win his national open after so many heart breaks than even the career slam. But what a nice bonus that would be.

His acceptance speech is perhaps the best and most humble I've ever heard from someone who didn't also acknowledge his fellow competitors. A minor slip.

Commenter

Tony T

Date and time

July 22, 2013, 10:40AM

It's incredibly tiresome when people start lumping "British" sporting achievements together especially when they use that irritating word "Brits" - outside of the Olympics, Britain hardly exists as a sporting entity. To call England's Ashes win a win for the "Brits" is just nonsense given that both of Scotland's cricket fans were supporting Australia.

Commenter

dds154

Date and time

July 22, 2013, 2:24PM

@ dds154, In most sports it is Great Britain actually. Football, golf, cricket and rugby are the exceptions rather than the norm. Your remark "outside of the Olympics" casually dismisses 26 major sports in which competing for Great Britain is the highest honour. Due to our role in inventing and codifying so many sports, tradition dictates that in football, rugby etc we compete as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In rugby we come together every four years as the British & Irish Lions, you may be aware of them ;)

Cricket is an interesting point, as England has the only Test playing team, anyone from the British Isles is eligible to play for them. Many Welsh, Irish and Scots have proudly played for and even captained England. You will actually find that many many Scots, like me, happily support the England cricket team in a way we never could the football and rugby teams.

Of course, as an open, outward-looking and welcoming nation, people born overseas but with British citizenship or heritage can also represent us at sport. Commit to us and we will commit to you. So far we have not required a special Act of Parliament to "fast-track" anyone.

I am a proud Scot but it says "British citizen" on my passport. Needless to say these last few years have been a kind of sporting bliss you could not imagine!

Commenter

thesman

Location

Edinburgh

Date and time

July 23, 2013, 2:47AM

That people are surprised by Micklesons win is a little confusing,as the writer correctly points out the guy has been runner up in several big events.Greg Norman said when asked if he felt robbed when Mize and Tway won majors with shots they may never play again the reply was "no, they could not have won if they weren't in a position to"By my reckoning Micklesons place in the field after 3 rounds made him a very real chance and he is a worthy champion.